introduce trees to the masses. you can check her out on line, follow her on twitter, even like us on facebook. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. see you back here next week. you are in the cnn newsroom. i'm gary tuchman in for frederick i when ricka whitfiel. no relief in sight. that's what the gaza strip and israel are fracing right now. this is how is looked and sounded. [ boom noise ] >> that was a target israeli strike on media centers in gaza.

we're live in gaza. just after midnight there right now. ben, thanks for joining us. it is said they have killed one of israel's leading experts. >> israeli defense forces are claiming they killed in that strike which left 11 people dead, including women and children, that they killed a man who they say is one of the senior commanders of hamas' rocket unit. however, we have been speaking to our sources here. we spoke to people in the neighborhood, and frankly they've never heard of this man. so it's not altogether clear whether this man had anything to do with or who he is, even, at all. so it's all rather confusing at the moment. what does seem to be clear is that israel is starting to focus on after-effects of jabadi, who

is the leader of hamas' military wing, it seems they are focusing on his subordinates throughout the gaza strip. another senior commander in hamas' military wing was killed in gaza today, so that may be an indication that israel is starting to focus not so much on the infrastructure, the buildings, but also the leaders of hamas. gary? >> i just mentioned the air strike on the media center in gaza. there was a bit of a controversy with the timing of the attack. what do you know about it? >> reporter: well, there were actually two attacks, but one of them occurred at about 6:30 in the morning when a lot of these journalists were getting ready for live shots on the roof of the building. and we know -- you can hear -- you know from the drones that are buzzing overhead all the time here in gaza that the israelis have a very good eye on what's going on everywhere in

the gaza strip. and so they must have known that there were journalists very much exposed in the building at the time when it was hit. and it's against international law also to target journalists. journalists are considered civilians, not combatant. even journalists who happened to be working, for instance, for television. that's a television station affiliated with islamic jihad, similar movement to the hamas movement. but the journal liists who work that television station don't carry weapons. we've seen them in operation and action. these are journalists. >> then how are palestinian officials responding to those attacks in the media center? >> reporter: well, they've

condemned these attacks on the journalists. we've had protests by palestinian journalists in the west bank as well as gaza following these attacks. but palestinian officials aren't just focusing on that. i mean, we did hear, for instance, abass, the palestinian president, underscoring the fact that the palestinians need to end their divisions. the big rift is between the fattah movement which rules the west bank and gaza here in hamas. this is what the palestinian president had to say about the need to restore palestinian unity. >> translator: it's a naked aversion against our people in gaza. they also want to create unity

between two parts of the homeland. they want to end the palestinian divergence and to restore unification. >> reporter: and meanwhile, the palestinians here are awaiting high-profile visits by the secretary general of the arab league and a delegation of four arab foreign ministers. many people here in gaza hoping the diplomacy will start to eclipse war. gary? >> ben wedeman, thank you for joining us on the program. ben wedeman reporting from the gaza strip. now let's go near the southern border of gaza. what's happening on the southern border and how active have the iron dome missiles been? >> reporter: well, the iron dome missile system has really played a prominent role here, but generally around the whole area around gaza today. i was actually at one of the iron dome missile batteries near

there and it was in operation the entire time. there was a lot of rockets being fired off. really the whole day there have been rocket alarms from rockets being fired from gaza into israeli territory. i know one specific time we got a rocket siren alert and we hit the deck. i would say about eight or nine rockets coming out of gaza were intercepted by this iron dome system about 200 yards over us. one rocket was not intercepted and came through and landed about 200 yards from where we were. this thing is definitely very efficient, from what we could see, but it's also not a 100% solution, so the israelis acknowledge that as well. it's a very active day here in israel. they were saying there was about 120 rockets fired out from gaza into israeli territory today, and from what we could see, there were air sirens going off almost the entire time. gary? >> people who live in the gaza strip are used to a threat of

attacks. there's been at least 750 of them from january until last week, according to the israeli government. but now there is a constant threat of rocket attacks and lots of attacks are coming. how are the people there coping with that? >> reporter: well, it's very difficult. you're absolutely right, the people here have sort of an eerie routine, if you will. they take these sirens very seriously. they do seek shelter every time they hear them, and right now it's an especially bad situation. people are really suffering from this. on the one hand, you have the psychological level where you're trying to travel through your town, trying to go through your day, but you're constantly waiting for the sirens to go off again. it is something that traumatizes especially children, and most families in this area will try to keep their children inside for most of the time. the schools here in the area are closed, the kids are inside most of the day. they obviously get bored or they're scared because the sirens are going off. it's something that has a huge impact and an economic impact as well. like last weekend, we were in

the marina area here, usually an area packed with people, people who are outside having their beers, and it was just totally abandoned. there were about three people there. in many cases, commercial life, public life is almost screeching to a halt, although you see these people trying to deal with it, and for instance, i was at one rocket strike today here in oshkalon, and a rocket came down and destroyed a carport, destroyed a car well, and it left a crater on the ground. and you could see within minutes, there was a tractor in the area and they closed that crater down just to make sure that normal life can set in as fast as possible. and that's one of the ways they're trying to deal with it. but of course, it is very difficult, especially in these times like now, gary. >> that's such vivid reporting. fred pleitgen in israel, thank you very much. wolf blitzer is in jerusalem covering this crisis, anderson cooper in egypt. they both join me at 5:00

eastern. president obama is monitoring the crisis in the middle east as he travels through asia. today he met with china's king and china's prime minister. today the president did address the fighting between israel and hamas and delivered a warning about the consequences of continued violence. >> those who champion the cause of the palestinians should recognize that if we see a further escalation of the situation in gaza, then the likelihood of us getting back on any kind of peace track that leads to a two-state solution is going to be pushed off way into the future. >> thailand is just the first stop of the president's three-nation tour of asia. later today he visits myanmar, something no president of the united states has ever done. mr. obama wraps up his tour in cambodia where he'll attend the east asia summit. we are getting some new details

about what may have happened in the moments before a train collided with a truck during a parade. four military vets died in the accident. and a neighborhood bar damaged by sandy becomes the lifeline the community now needs. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

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footage shows the truck carrying the veterans tried to cross the rail tracks while the warning lights were, indeed, on. a vigil was held last night for those killed when the train slammed into that truck. many witnesses to the crash are still in shock. >> it made me cry. i mean, i know what they went throu through, and it just -- like i said, i was at a loss for words. i didn't know what to say. i didn't know what to do. >> anybody that has any kind of decency should be feeling somber about this, because it was a very bad tragedy. they went over there, fought or four country, dodged bullets and this. something that was supposed to be something really good for them and it turned horrible. >> investigators are trying to determine who is responsible for the crash. rescue crews have found a man's body in the gulf of mexico. they believe he is one of the two crew members missing after an explosion on an oil platform.

at least 11 people were injured in the blast. the body has not been identified yet. a new york bar struggling to survive after being damaged by hurricane sandy is putting its troubles aside and helping out neighbors. they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

many communities have really pulled together since sandy. in new york, an irish pub damaged in the storm is setting its troubles aside and focusing on neighbors. cnn national correspondent susan candiotti has the story. >> this is a today's only donation only. >> donation only? >> donation only. >> reporter: that's right, after sandy, it's donation only at shine's irish pub in new york. they own the bar and rode out the storm in their apartment upstairs. >> reporter: when you saw the water gushing down the street, what did you think? >> well, i thought the car was going to be gone, i thought the business was going to be gone, and then i thought the business

is going to be washed away, and we'd be gone. yeah. it was very scary. >> reporter: when the storm hit, shines was getting ready to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the day dean shine bought the bar. it sat up from the ocean and survived prohibition. if the water had gone up, all of this would have been -- >> i don't even want to think about it. >> reporter: the water hole remains a fixture. >> every time the phone rang, they would say, i'm not here. >> exactly. true story. >> reporter: but big changes are coming. damaged by floodwaters, the bar needs to be gutted. and casey says financially the place is already in the red. >> i can't imagine there will be enough money to fix this. >> reporter: worse is the prospect of ripping out the bar's familiar surroundings. >> the old timers will be really

stressed about that because this is something they rely on. the widowers, the guys who were never married who come here to hang out with their friends, it's really going to stress them out when everything gets taken down. >> reporter: for now the focus is on helping its neighbors. look at all this free hot food out for people who live around here. these are the folks that helped out with cleanup after sandy. over here you have a table full of free food. a sign says, please take what you need. lollipops for the kids, baby food, bread. and no space is put to waste. look, it's a pay phone and all around it, canned food. >> i only got electricity on monday, still don't have a boiler. >> reporter: after the storm, casey found some frozen food and heated it up for anyone who needed it. then donations came pouring in. >> because this place as a community fixture supercedes us.

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what is your favorite city in the united states? the editors of travel and leisure magazine asked readers that question, and here is the top five list. number one, new orleans, louisiana. number two, san francisco, tying at three, nashville, new york, new york, and minneapolis, st. paul. we talked about why certain cities made the list. >> reporter: break it down by individual categories, beginning with the top city for intelligent people. i think most people might think new york city, washington, d.c., but instead they need to point their eyes on minneapolis? >> yes, the midwest does well in

intelligence. in fact, visitors rated minneapolis number one on the most intelligent people. interestingly, residents of minneapolis, st. paul rated themselves number 5. so i'm not sure what that says, but also interesting is visitors felt the tech savviness of this city was really top notch. so i wonder if there is some correlation between tech savvy and intelligence. >> and you have to take an ice cream break every now and then, so why not go to the city that ranks the highest in ice cream, and that would be savannah. >> this is a surprise to me, certainly. i love savannah. it's a place dripping with culture and history. i had no idea it was also dripping ice cream cones. leopo leopold's is a place i would recommend. it dates back to the 1990s. they have great flavors just for the holidays from everything from sugar plum fairy to a cheesecake flavor with some

pumpkin spice. what i love about this place is it feels authentically and that's exactly what you want to do when you go to savannah. >> they have licked the competition. >> you went there! >> had to. and another thing is the mic microbreweries out there, and apparently portland, oregon is the best. >> in terms of craft beer, this is the epicenter. there are more than 45 breweries in the city proper. you do a tour of breweries by bicycle. apparently bicycle riding is very popular in portland, oregon. it sounds to me like i would be a menace on the road, but luckily, i don't live in portland. >> that sounds like a lot of fun, though. i like that. then of all the places for the girlfriends to get together and get away, we're not talking

about vegas, l.a., santa monica. no, new orleans. >> i love new orleans, and i love fact that the ladies are thinking out of the box. not only do you get to go vintage shopping on magazine street, go to the quarter, go to great restaurants wherever you turn. there is really great value and luxury hotels available, so whether you stay at the saint or the rintz-carlton, you get the high and low. i love that it's not just for the dudes, it's for the ladies as well. it has a lot of what all those cities you mentioned offer. it has great food, great ambience, great night life, which i guess for girlfriend getaways, it has that. it doesn't have great beaches, but that's okay. >> thanks so much. great to see you. >> thanks for having me.

>> you can read much more about this in this month's travel and leisure magazine. coming up next, we will explain a very unique picture to you. stay with us.

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